French presidential election has a big “variable”?

Investigation page Mediapart (France) has published a series of documents accusing members of the European parliament of abusing EU funds for national partisan purposes.

The announcement was made a week before the second round of voting in the French presidential election on April 24, in which Le Pen will face off against President Emmanuel Macron.

Le Pen’s far-right Rassemblement National (RN) party spokesman questioned the timing of the allegations.

Ms. Le Pen’s lawyer Rodolphe Bosselut said he was disappointed with the behavior of OLAFT (European anti-corruption agency).

He also emphasized that the above accusations were part of a “manipulation” strategy to disadvantage Ms. Le Pen.

Marine Le Pen will face off against President Emmanuel Macron on April 24. Photo: Reuters

According to MediapartOLAFT sent a report to French investigators in March. It accused Ms. Le Pen of embezzling nearly $150,000 from EU funds when she was a European MP between 2004 and 2017.

Ms. Le Pen’s father, Mr. Jean-Marie Le Pen; Perpignan Mayor Louis Aliot, who was RN’s vice president, and Bruno Gollnisch, another influential member of the RN, are also accused of the same thing. All denied.

In a statement on April 17, the Paris Prosecutor’s Office said the OLAFT report was “under review”.

On the same day, RN President Jordan Bardella confirmed to the radio Europe 1 that the French “will not be misled by the efforts of the EU and European agencies to interfere in the election campaign and discredit Ms. Le Pen”.

According to Mr. Bardella, RN has filed two lawsuits against OLAFT and is preparing a third one.

French President Emmanuel Macron is expected to win by a narrow margin in the voting round on April 24. Photo: Reuters